Frome.  Do you give him a good character all round, or do you not?

Cokeson. [Turning to the judge] Certainly.  We were all very jolly and pleasant together, until this happened.  Quite upset me.

Frome.  Now, coming to the morning of the 7th of July, the morning on which the cheque was altered.  What have you to say about his demeanour that morning?

Cokeson. [To the jury] If you ask me, I don’t think he was quite compos when he did it.

The judge. [Sharply] Are you suggesting that he was insane?

Cokeson.  Not compos.

The judge.  A little more precision, please.

Frome. [Smoothly] Just tell us, Mr. Cokeson.

Cokeson. [Somewhat outraged] Well, in my opinion—­[looking at the judge]—­such as it is—­he was jumpy at the time.  The jury will understand my meaning.

Frome.  Will you tell us how you came to that conclusion?

Cokeson.  Ye-es, I will.  I have my lunch in from the restaurant, a chop and a potato—­saves time.  That day it happened to come just as Mr. Walter How handed me the cheque.  Well, I like it hot; so I went into the clerks’ office and I handed the cheque to Davis, the other clerk, and told him to get change.  I noticed young Falder walking up and down.  I said to him:  “This is not the Zoological Gardens, Falder.”

Frome.  Do you remember what he answered?

Cokeson.  Ye-es:  “I wish to God it were!” Struck me as funny.

Frome.  Did you notice anything else peculiar?

Cokeson.  I did.

Frome.  What was that?

Cokeson.  His collar was unbuttoned.  Now, I like a young man to be neat.  I said to him:  “Your collar’s unbuttoned.”

Frome.  And what did he answer?

Cokeson.  Stared at me.  It wasn’t nice.

The judge.  Stared at you?  Isn’t that a very common practice?

Cokeson.  Ye-es, but it was the look in his eyes.  I can’t explain my meaning—­it was funny.

Frome.  Had you ever seen such a look in his eyes before?

Cokeson.  No.  If I had I should have spoken to the partners.  We can’t have anything eccentric in our profession.

The judge.  Did you speak to them on that occasion?

Cokeson. [Confidentially] Well, I didn’t like to trouble them about prime facey evidence.

Frome.  But it made a very distinct impression on your mind?

Cokeson.  Ye-es.  The clerk Davis could have told you the same.

Frome.  Quite so.  It’s very unfortunate that we’ve not got him here.  Now can you tell me of the morning on which the discovery of the forgery was made?  That would be the 18th.  Did anything happen that morning?